Saturday, March 30, 2013

Want something new for upcoming beach season?Make it yourself!Crochet this wonderful beach skirt. So sexy and comfortable! Wear it as cover-up with swimsuit on the beach and you will have a lot of compliments! Ties on left when worn.I crocheted this skirt for me and of course I made a pattern so you can make it too!You can buy it here.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Many people like the Shabby chic style. Me too, so I want to show you how you can create with your own hands details for the home in this style.How to decorate wooden furniture I already wrote here. Today I'll show how you can quickly and easily decorate the bottles.

It can be any bottle, even from marmalade)You will need a bottle, strip of burlap, lace ribbon.

Friday, March 22, 2013

How to make crocheted beads in a few easy steps. Many time people asked me to write this tutorial and finally it's here.

These crochet balls you can make in all the colours of the rainbow and in any size.It is a very good idea for beginners to start out with thick yarn and a large hook so they can practice before going down to the skinnier threads and crochet hooks. Used terms: stitch (st.), single crochet (sc), single crochet 2 together (sc2tog) A wooden bead is perfect as a core of a crochet ball, but you can use acrylic beads as well. Use proper size of crochet needle for the yarn you chose to use for the bead.Take a bead about 2 cm diameter.

Make a loop a few inches from the end of your yarn.Take the loop where two threads overlap, between your left thumb and forefinger.

Insert hook into the loop from front to back.

Draw up a loop.Make a chain.

Insert the hook into the loop, so you are crocheting over a loop and the yarn tail.

Draw up a loop to begin your first SC.

Complete the SC.

Continue to crochet over a loop and the yarn tail until you have 6-8 SC (quantity depends of diameter of your bead and thickness of yarn)

Grab the yarn tail and pull to draw the center of the ring tightly closed.Begin your second round by crocheting into the first stitch of the first round.

Ball is made as a spiral. Please count your rounds. You can put little thread – marker of safety - in the first stitch of every round.R2: inc in every stitch of the first round.R3: Move the marker up to the first stitch of the round. inc, sc in every stitch of the second round.

R4: 2 sc, inc in every stitch around.R5: 3 sc, inc in every stitch around. Take your bead and fit it. It should fit well. If it fit tightly you should unpick 1-2 rounds and make more inc. If you have big bead you will need to repeat R4.

R6-R7-R8-R9: SC around. Quantity of this step depends of diameter of your bead. Take the bead and thread tail into the hole. Put the bead inside the finished part of the crochet bead. Now you will crochet around the bead.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Shabby chic home decor
is gaining popularity because it is romantic, frugal, and creative.

Are you a fan of
beautiful vintage style shabby chic home accessories and giftware? Do it
yourself!

What you'll need:

• work space (depend of dimensions of
your piece)

• smaller paintbrushes for detail
and large for larger areas (you can use also one for all if the piece is small)

• primer color

• main color

• candle

• medium grade sand paper

• matt varnish in spray

Make sure the surface
you are going to work with is clean. Remove any drawers and associated
hardware. Wash with warm, soapy water. If it’s new piece you don’t need to do
anything.

Paint the piece with
your color of your choice: brown, light brown or other. This paint will do two
things. It will act as a primer, AND it
will give the illusion that the piece was painted this color originally. Let it dry.

Rub with wax places you
want to see primer color - along the edges and around corners (I used usual candle).

Paint the piece of
furniture with the main color. May be you will need to paint again.

Allow the paint to dry
completely.

Use medium grade sand
paper and rough up the edges. Try to sand spots where the piece of furniture
would have been bumped/scraped/hit naturally

When it finished cover
piece with matt varnish (I used in
spray) to keep your newly distressed piece of furniture in tip top condition.
shiny varnish will not look authentic and shabby chic!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Do you always think how to wrap a gift to your special person for Chrstmas, Birthday, Valentine's day?Here I present some ideas of gift wrapping.These presents were for Juventus lovers. I used simple white paper and black and white ribbon attached on the back with scotch.

Pastel edition for baby gift:

http://www.minieco.co.uk/woven-gift-wrap-pastel-edition/

If you already packed your gift with normal gift paper - add a final touch with cute gift tag

Give an elegant look to your gift wrapping it in simple ecru paper and then in amazing lace and atlas ribbin with bow:

http://www.gisforgift.com/something-meaningful-fo-the-newlyweds/

This idea is for sewers - to use stitching in your gift wrapping! A piece of recycled paper bag or book page makes for a great surface to stitch stripes. Create a matching card by layering book pages and paper and sewing them together with a zig zag stitch.

http://alisaburke.blogspot.it/2010/12/stitched-gift-wrap.html?m=1

I love the idea of using fabric for wrapping gifts. Just wrap it in a peice of fabric and it will be sure cuttiest gift! To secure the ends, tie them in a simple knot or secure them with a cute pin, button, or pretty ribbon to give the package an extra special touch.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Feel of
spring ... There are first soft sweet-smelling flowers and of course peach and
almond begin to bloom. Bright, elegant and delicate flowers of peach tree - the
byword of spring.

Peach tree
blooms in early spring, here in south Italy usually in February or beginning of
March. The flowers are white, pink or dark red. Flowering begins when there are
no leaves so the tree seems pink cloud on the background of the blue sky. Then
flowers wither and leaves appear. This is a short-term beauty, just about a
week or two we have to enjoy the flowering peach and almond trees.

Replacing
charming fragrant flowers on branches of peach tree soon will appear equally
attractive small velvety fruits. But it is - then ...

Saturday, March 2, 2013

For too long time I did not make any new collage but this week I had a lot of inspiration and made many new images. Most of them are backgrounds for scrapbooking that can be used also for labels, greeting cards and other projects. But I make also circles for jewelry making.

About me

My name is Ekaterina. I’m а Russian girl living in Italy. I’ve always loved sewing since I was a child. Now I sew clothing and home decor, create fabric and leather jewelry and sell them in my online shops. Also I like photography, especially food photography.